LG Reportedly Halts Nexus 4 Production: Nexus 5 On The Cards? (Rumor)

Fans of the LG-manufactured Nexus 4 have been trying to get their hands on the perennially sold out smartphone since its November 2012 launch. Now, trying to get your hands on the elusive device may soon be akin to waiting for Godot as reports suggest that LG is set to stop production of the Nexus 4.

The report comes courtesy International Business Times, which reports that the Nexus 4 seems to have gone down several notches in LG's priority list as the company is looking to focus on new devices, prompting the company to stop production altogether.

"Consumers who wanted to grab the LG Nexus 4 may not be able to do so as Korea's electronics firm LG is alleged to have halted the production of the Nexus 4 to make way for its upcoming smartphones. LG Nexus 4 seemed to have fallen down LG's priority list amid rumours that the company seized the production of the smartphone to focus on the development of its future offerings," noted the International Business Times report.

The site, however, did not cite the source of its information, which encourages one to accept the claim with a pinch of salt. Also note that the report used the word "seized" and not "ceased." A typo perhaps?

The Nexus 4 was launched in November 2012 and met with unprecedented sales demand, and as a result the device was sold out within an hour in both the UK and the U.S. With the device selling like hot cakes, the report of alleged stopping of production does not make any sense.

What's even more bizarre is that the report claims that successor of the Nexus 4 is in the pipeline, and LG could possibly release the next iteration as early as February at the MWC 2013.

"One of the upcoming phones for consumers to watch out for is the successor of the popular LG Nexus 4. LG may be releasing the Nexus 4's successor next month," reported the site.

Even though LG's Electronics SVP James Fisher revealed at CES 2013 that the Nexus 4 is "the first of many" Nexus products it is has in the pipeline, it does not confirm that a Nexus 5 is on the cards.

"Through our collaboration with Google, we launched the LG Nexus 4 smartphone. This is the first of many devices to come from our growing partnership with this very selective company," noted Fisher at LG's CES press event.

It seems unlikely that LG would keep such a short time window (4 months) between the release of Nexus 4 and Nexus 5. Moreover, the Nexus 4 is supposedly raking in the moolah for the company, so it would be not short of a foolhardy move and one that is not expected from of a company of LG's stature.

Will the Nexus 5 make an appearance at the MWC 2013? Seems highly unlikely, but stranger things have happened in the past, so you never know!